Centralia

 “Riding back where the highway met dead end tracks, the ground is now cement and glass.”

-       ‘Carry Me, Ohio’ by Sun Kil Moon

Centralia is a veritable ghost town in central Pennsylvania caused by a coal mine fire which ignited in 1962 and has been burning – and will continue to burn – ever since. The fire, quite literally, has ripped the town apart both physically and consensually. Only a small handful of diehard residents still actually live there. Today, Centralia consists of splintered sidewalks, dead-end streets reclaimed by nature, razed houses, and smoldering earth that spits out toxic gasses and steam. 

I traveled with my friend and fellow photographer, Emily Dilcherd. Oddly enough, it wasn’t the town that creeped us out as much as it was the line of wind turbines looming on a distant mountain. It was like something out of a wind farm horror movie or something (if such a thing actually exists). No matter what we were doing, one of us would occasionally stop, stare off into the distance, and say, “Ew, the windmills!” Unfortunately I didn’t have a zoom lens long enough to capture the creepiness. 

Overall, the trip was somewhat of a let-down for a couple of reasons. For being the real-life town that inspired the creators of Silent Hill, I had high expectations to the kinds of scenery I would come upon that just weren't met. I basically painted a mental picture of a slightly toned down version of Silent Hill with empty streets, abandoned and boarded up houses, few (if any) people, and a blanket of smog so thick I could barely see, complete with a tumbleweed or two. 

The only vision that lived up to my expectations was the smog vision, and by ‘smog’ I mean ‘puny spurts of steam’ that dissipated in a few seconds. The smoke was concentrated in a specific area of town that had been dug up into mounds of dirt. It was interesting to see, and further proved that there really IS a fire burning underneath, but it wasn’t very visually stimulating. The ground under my feet was warm to the touch. There was a distinct smell from all the gasses. It smelled like a combination of sulfur and a high school science classroom where someone unknowingly left the Bunson burner running for too long.

Apparently Centralia is quite the happenin’ hotspot for tourists. There must have been a fieldtrip or something because there was a bus-full of people out and about – all brandishing cameras and video recorders. It got a little annoying because every time I attempted to photograph, somebody was stepping into my frame. It really killed the whole desolation aspect I was hoping for. It just didn’t feel as eerie with groups of people walking around. Besides, there was somewhat of a high-traffic flow of cars running up and down the main street. The third reason I was a bit irritated was because I couldn’t find the abandoned strip of Route 61 which I was really looking forward to seeing. 

I didn't see any tumbleweeds, but I did see some tumble-litter. Lame. 

Despite my disappointments, I still found Centralia fascinating and am glad to have finally gotten a chance to see such a legendary town. I hope to return again after I spend more time poring over Google maps so that I can have a chance to photograph the abandoned highway.